Tag: brahmacharya

Today we will talk about the very last of the 5 Yamas, which is Aparigraha: Non-Possessiveness. But what were the first 4 Yamas again?

Review:

–The Yamas are 5 basic ethical principles to live by. Things we can do everyday to improve our happiness and the happiness of the people around us.

– The first principle, Ahimsa, is Non-Violence. It means more than just not being cruel to those around us. It means we should always be considerate of those around us. Those around us and actually every little thing on this earth including ourselves!

– The second principle, Satya, is Truthfulness. Speak your truth with good intentions. Be honest with yourself about how you feel, you are allowed to feel however it is that you do. When we are first honest with ourselves it becomes easier to speak our truth to the world.

– The third principle, Asteya, is Non-Stealing. This means of course to never take something that doesn’t belong to you. But that “something” does not just mean a physical possession. That “something” also means time, moments, energy etc.

– The fourth principle, Brahmacharya, is Moderation and Use of Energy. Meaning that we should moderate the enjoyable things in our lives, because too much of anything isn’t good. This way we can save our energy and use it on our path to enlightenment.

Aparigraha: Non-Possessiveness. Take only what you need. Take only what you’ve earned. Share what you have! Similar to Brahmacharya we need to learn how to rid this need for possessions by keeping our senses in check. Our society is constantly telling us that we need more and more to remain happy. That is just some rich person in a tall tower trying to get richer by brainwashing us into buying their crap.

The truth is we need less to be happy.Minimalism is key!If something you have in your home doesn’t give you an obvious feeling of joy, its just clutter, so get rid of it.

This is a very hard thing to learn how to do because we are used to having so much. Believe me once you start to declutter your home, your office and your life in general you will begin to feel lighter. Your mind will automatically declutter as your surroundings become more peaceful and turn into a space that you can truly feel happy in. Living with only necessities can really help one find a sense of freedom in their lives.

Aparigraha also implies that it is important to be non-possessive not only of objects but also people and moments and thoughts and energies and traditions and pretty much everything in life because nothing ever stays the same.

So often when things change we become crippled by emotions of sadness or fear of this change. If we begin by practicing detachment from outside stimuli we never have to go through the difficult process of dealing with the changes. We can simply feel grateful that we had the opportunity to experience that thing even though it is now gone.

As I mentioned above practicing detachment by living a minimalistic lifestyle is not easy at first, but it is so worth it!

Well as a first time blogger I had great time writing about the Yamas of Yoga. I sure hoped you enjoyed the read! Any comments or helpful tips would be very much appreciated!